Tow line



Aug. 13, 1935.

c. A. PERSONS 2,011,233

TOW LINE I Filed April 18, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l V Zzzaa-rzfr: f gjas6.]??00215 Aug. 13, 1935. c. A. PERSONS 2,011,233

- ow LINE I Filed April 18, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 13,1935. cPERSONS 2,011,233

' TOW LINE Filed April 18, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug. 13 1935J. 1 I

UNITED STATES T NT OFFICE 15 L "-z,o11,2-ssi l 'row Charles A. Persons,Worcester, Mass, assignor to Persons-Majestic Manufacturing Company,

Worcester, Mass. ,"a corporation of Massachusetts a Application April s,1933, Serial No. 666.763.

5Claims. (Cl. 289933.14)-

.The present invention relates to; an improved and the latter vehicleprovides the usual front tow-line for use in connection with automotive,bumper. 5, OIYLOthGI' accessible part, to which the crany other heavyvehicles. l other end oi the tow-line 3 is secured, as will In. towingof one vehicle by another, any towhereinafterappean. The: tow-line 3comprises a i 5 l e will be subjected to sudden pulls resulting lengthof flexible material preferably rope, as 5 from uneven starting,stopping, or; braking of indicated at fi, and anopen hook I secured atthe connected vehicles and the consequent severe one end thereofprovidesconvenient means for strainsresult infrequent breakage, whetherthe releasably; securing the line to the vehicle I, after lim be. madeof hemp, rope or wire cable. Pro pa-Ssi git around the bumper Z.

1o vision of a. heavi'enline toavoid breakage merely Thetow;-lineprovides a resilient connection transfersthe strairr from the line to.the conbetween the two vehicles I and A, and to this nected partsof thevehicles, such as the bumpers, end, the opposite end of the rope 6.remote from so. that bumpers or other parts of the vehicles the: hook flis, provided with an eye 8 preferably are frequently bent'outof shape,thereby marring formed by turning theend of the rope over upon theappearance of the vehicles and in some cases itself and splicingthestrands of the turned-over 5 a1: ting the proper operation thereof. endinto the main portion thereof, as best shown It is, accordinglygtheprincipal object. of the in Fig. 2. Av pin dwhiohpasses through the eyepresent. invention to provide atow-line having ;8: inthet rope fi isreceived. in ears It] provided .airesilient portion which will take upany sudden by an annular plate It, and the latter has an strains in sucha manner as to reduce the pos- ,openin l2. therein for the reception ofa U- 20 sibility of breakage of the material of the towshap d y t whichthe P i d b e. lineitself 'as well asito'preventi dam ge of the -s havy;co p pr ich e a es art t which th line. isconnepted, a v at one endwith the plate I I, surrounds the legs Other and further? objects andadvantages of of the yoke between whch the end of the ropethe'invention' will appear from the following (16- ,6 l t -v d e s of elegs of the tailed description taken in connection with the yoke; areprovided withoutwardly extending feet accompanying drawings in .which:-1 .15. for engagement With the end of the spring a Fig. 1 is a view in:elevation, illustrating the OPPQ i t th n engaging the plate ll.. use.of a tow-line embodying theinvention. l The positioning of the end ofthe rope 6 between Fig. 2. is a. view; on an enlarged scale,v of onethe. legsoithe yoke l3 protects the spliced porthe top. of Fig. 5, withthe attaching hooksresite ends of a'heavy flexible strap is. The latterend of the tow-line.; y tion thereof' from engagement with the coils ofFig. 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in the: spring, L the byEliminating W a of the z; 1 i v l A 1 g rope 6. The springis arranged tofunction under Fig. 4. is a section along the line 4-4 of Fig.2..compression resulting, from a pull on the rope 6,

35 Fig. 5 is a view partly in plan,v and partly in the; tension on saidrope tending to move the 35 section, showing. a, modification of theinvention. plate l. toward the feet l5 on the yoke. The. Fig. 6. isaview in side elevationof the parts egs fih e a jac t the base a p v dedof". Fig 5 a I l v withalined openings l6 which receive the bent- .Fig.'7. is a view in end elevation; looking fr m over ends of wire hooks llsecured to the oppomoved. encircles. thebumper 5' on the towed vehicleand Fig, 8 is a plan view showing a further modiprovides'areleasableconnection between the yoke dilatation of the invention. 'and'thevehicle. I

r 9: is a view-in side elevation of the. parts Whenthe towing vehicle isstarted, the tension Fig 8; l l a i a p p i on the rope 6. retransmittedthrough the com- 45 Like referencercharacters" refer to. like partspression spring M to the towed vehicle'rather m the different figures. ythan directly thereto, thereby avoiding any sud- Referring first to Fig.1, the towing vehicle I, den strain on either of the vehicles. When athe rear portion only of which is indicated, 'prosudden strain is placedon the rope, the spring I4 -vides the usual bumper extendingtransversely is compressed, temporarily, until the strain is 5 at therear thereof", and one endof a. tow-line r3 relievedanwthe-spring thenreturns to the normal embodying the invention is secured around saidposition shown,-in readiness to absorb any further bumper, or to anyother accessibla part of the strains to which the rope may be subjected.The vehicle. The towline 3* provides a. connection tow line'thusprovidesa resilient, or shockless,

0 between. the vehicle 1.1 and avehiclel to be towed, connection betweenthetwo vehicles connected 55 buses, and other similar vehicles.

thereby, and materially reduces the maximum tensicn to which the line issubjected. Since the spring Hi functions as a compression spring, it isnot subject to distortion beyond the elastic limit, as will be apparent,and a heavy strain on the rope will not permanently distort the spring.

In the modification shownin Figs. 5, 6, and 7 he end of the rope 6, notshown, is preferably provided with a suitable hook corresponding to thehook I; the opposite end of the rope being plate 2i. This end of therope is formed into a knot 22 of sufficient size to prevent the ropefrom being drawn through the opening 25 in the plate 2! and the latteris provided witha cylindrical flange 23 surrounding the rope to aid insupporting the plate in proper relation thereto. In this modification,the resilient connection between the two vehicles embodies twoparallelly-arranged coil springs 25 and 25 which operate together inabsorbing the shocksand sudden strains on the tow 'line. The plate 2! isprovided with oppositely extending ears 25 and 2! for the reception ofbolts 28 and 35, the bolts 28 and 35 passing through the end coils 3iand 32 of the springs 24 and 25 for supporting the springs in parallelrelation to the axis of the opening '20 in the plate 2|, as well as thegeneral longitudinal axis of the rope 5.

Each of the springs-24 and 25 has a U-shaped yoke 33 and 36, the legs ofwhich extend through said springs and the legs of each'yoke extend onopposite sides of the ears formed on the plate 25. The ends of the legsof the yokes are provided with laterally extending feet 35 and 36 whichreceive the ends of the springs remote from the end coils 3i and 32respectively. Each yoke 33 and 35 is provided adjacent the base withalined openings 37! which receive the bent ends of wire hooks 38 securedin the opposite ends of heavy straps 35, one strap being provided foreach yoke. Each of the straps 40 is passed around a bumper, or othersuitable part of one of the vehicles connected by the tow-line as in themanner of strap 48 above. A pull on the rope 6' being transmittedthrough the compression springs 24 and 25 to the straps 4! the tow-linethus provides a resilient shockless connection between the two vehiclesconnected by said rope. The provision of a pair of springs acting inparallel with @ch other adapts this structure for use in the towing ofheavy vehicles and so this modified construction is particularly usefulfor towing' trucks,

The modification of Figs. 8 and 9 provides a still further type ofresilient connection adapted for the towing of heavy vehicles. In thismodification, the rope is provided at one end, not

shown, with a suitable hook corresponding to the hook i for connectingthe end of said connector to a vehicle, the opposite end passing arounda connecting member 4| which is provided with a suitable groove 42 inwhich the rope is received. The connecting member 4| is provided atopposite ends with recesses '53, in each of which is seated the base ofa U-shaped yoke 44. The legs of one of the yokes M extend through acompression coil spring 55 and the ends of the legs of the yoke areprovided with laterally-extending feet 46 for engagement with the endcoils of the spring 45. The legs of a similar-yoke 41 extend through thespring 55 in a direction opposite to the legs of the yoke 44 and theends of the legs of the yoke ll are provided with laterally-extendingfeet 48 for engagement with the end of the spring 45 member 3 l,

' spring.

remote from the end coil ally-extending feet 45.

The legs of the other yoke 45 on the opposite end of the connectingmember 4! extend through a coil spring 50 similar to and extendingparallel with the spring 55 and the ends of the legs of this yoke areprovided with laterally-extending feet 5i engaging the end coil of thespring 55. A second yoke 52' also extends through the spring 58 in aengaged by the laterdirection opposite to the yoke 44 andlaterallypassed through an opening 20 in a connecting extending feet 53on the ends of the legs of said yoke 52 engage the end coils of thespring remote from the coil engaged by the feet 5!. The bases of theyokes M and 52 are connected together by a spacing strip 56 which holdssaid yokes apart and which, in conjunction with the connecting supportsthe springs 45 and 5D in parallel relation to each other.

Rivets 55 which connect the strip 54 to the bases of the yokes ll and 52also fasten each yoke to a connector 56 having parallel projecting ears5! and 58. The ears of each connector 56 are provided with spacedopenings 61 for the reception of the opposite .ends of wire hooks 6isecured as shown in Fig. 9 to the ends of a flexible strap 62. Aseparate strap is provided for each connector 55 and each strap passesaround a bumper 5 or' other part of a vehicle to which the twoline isconnected, as in the manner of the strap i8 above described. Thistow-line with the parallelly-arranged springs 55 and 55 is particularlyuseful in towing heavy vehicles such as trucks and bu'sses, and thesprings 45 and 5i! are adapted to absorb extremely heavy shocks orstrains on the tow-line.

The invention thus provides a resilient shockless connection between twovehicles to which the towline is connected, and the structure isarranged to eliminate excessive strain on the rope or on the vehiclesconnected thereby. a

I claim,

1. In a tow-line, a flexible connector, acompression spring, a plateengaging one end of said spring, said connector extending through saidspring and being secured to said plate, a U- shapedyoke extendingthrough said spring from the end adjacent the plate and having the endsthereof engaging with the opposite end of said spring, the-legs of saidyoke extending between the end of the connector and thecoils of thespring, and means for attaching said yoke to a vehicle.

2. In a tow-line, a compression spring, a plate engaging one end of saidspring, a flexible connector extending through said spring and havingone end secured to said plate, a U-shaped yoke passing through saidcompressing spring and having the ends of the legs thereof engaging theend of the compression spring remote from the plate, said yoke beingpositioned between the end of the flexible connector and the coils ofthe 3. In a tow-line, a flexible connector, 'a compression springsurrounding one end of said connector, means for securing the end ofsaid connectorto one end of the spring, a yoke extending through saidspring and engaging the end of said spring opposite to the end to whichconnector is secured, and a flexible strap having hooks in the oppositeends thereof for engagement with open- 'ingsin said yoke, said strapproviding means for releasably securing said yoke to a vehicle.

4. In a'tow-line, a flexible connector, a compression spring surroundingone end of said connector, a plate engaging with one end of said spring,the end of said connector being secured directly-thereto, a yokeextending through said spring and engaging with the opposite endthereof, and attaching means secured to said yok'e at the end remotefrom the point of engagement of said yoke with the spring for attachmentof said I yoke to a vehicle.

5. In a tow-line, a flexible connector, a compression spring surroundingone end of said 0011- nector, a plate engaging with one end of said saidplate, and a flexible strap having hooks inthe the opposite ends thereoffor engagement with openings in said yoke, said strap providing meansfor releasably securing said yoke to a vehicle.

CHARLES A. PERSONS.

